A few months before the start of the conflict between Iran and Israel, a Swiss national died in an Iranian prison. He was accused of spying by the mullah regime. This sixty -something man was officially in Iran on vacation. The program of the RTS developed was able to find its identity and conduct the investigation into Frank L.
In early January, the Iranian authorities announced the death of a Swiss national imprisoned for alleged acts of spying. The Confederation confirms the information, while refusing to deliver the slightest detail. Neither the identity of the deceased nor the exact circumstances of his death are communicated.
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According to information collected by focusing with sources close to the Iranian intelligence ministry, the Swiss citizen who died in Iran was called Frank L. The sixties was arrested on October 29, 2024 in the desert, south of Damghan. He would have been surprised photographing military installations belonging to the body of the guards of the Islamic revolution.
Officially died by suicide
Iranian authorities accuse him of spying on the United States. A few weeks after his arrest, he was transferred to the regional prison of Semnan. It was there that he dies, officially suicide. He would have hanged himself using a fabric in a bathroom.
His identity is confirmed by internal sources in the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAE). Frank L. has left Switzerland for almost twenty years. He is registered with the Swiss Embassy in Pretoria and resides in Namibia where he is unemployed. He is divorced, his wife lives in the United States. He has adult children in Switzerland with whom he has no contact. Very discreet, he has no presence on social networks. In the small Swiss community expatriate in Namibia, no one seems to know him.
Research carried out in specialized databases, however, makes it possible to find an address in Swakopmund, Namibia, associated with its name. It corresponds to a financial and fiscal consulting company. Contacted, the director of this company, a German speaking European, says he does not know Frank L.
According to Swiss sources close to the file, Frank L. was traveling as a tourist in Iran. He crossed the Iranian border aboard an old 4×4. Amateur photographer, he had several devices in his vehicle. He is described as an adventurer, an atypical character, who left to cross the country by car off the beaten track.
Order in a highly strategic area
Was he a simple tourist passionate about deserts? Or a spy? Frank L. was arrested south of Damghan. This area is a highly strategic place. The Shahroud military base is located in the region, with tests of new missiles and ballistic rockets. A military site which was notably targeted by first Israeli strikes a few days before the arrest of the Swiss citizen in 2024. This same site was again targeted by Israeli aviation during the first week of the Iran-Israel war in June 2025.
![Shahroud's military base. It is near this base that the Swiss citizen Frank L., accused of espionage, was arrested in 2024. The Shahroud base is a strategic military site dedicated to the research and production of ballistic missiles. It was the target of Israeli air strikes in October 2024, then again in June 2025. [DR]](https://img.rts.ch/articles/2025/image/pup0wy-28927273.image?mw=640 "Shahroud's military base. It is near this base that the Swiss citizen Frank L., accused of espionage, was arrested in 2024. The Shahroud base is a strategic military site dedicated to the research and production of ballistic missiles. It was the target of Israeli air strikes in October 2024, then again in June 2025. [DR]")
Thanks to the Transparency Act (LTRANS), Development was able to consult internal documents from the Confederation, in particular e-mail exchanges between the Swiss Embassy in Iran and the DFAE in Bern. These documents show that Tehran has kept secret the arrest of Frank L. for weeks.
Swiss diplomats write internally: “What is worrying is that (..) detention lasted more than 25 days” before Iran informed Switzerland of the situation. This is a violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Then it took many days to the Swiss authorities to obtain details. The name initially communicated by the Iranians is incorrect.
The Swiss diplomats then saw their meetings with the Iranian Directorate of Consular Affairs canceled twice. The reasons invoked are thinking: “a shortage of electricity” and “a peak of pollution”. It was only by phone that the Swiss were finally able to discuss the file with the Iranian authorities. No visit to the prisoner was possible. Frank L. therefore remained without contact with the Swiss authorities for more than two months. Finally, he died in early January, without any consular visit being able to take place.
Has it been tortured in prison? Has he suffered interrogations? Many questions remain unanswered, as well as the exact conditions of his death.
Frank L.’s body has been repatriated to Switzerland at the price of significant diplomatic efforts. In order to preserve possible evidence, the DFAE was able to send a diplomat to Semnan prison to organize the repatriation of the body. The body was transported to a sealed coffin. In Switzerland, a medical-legal examination was carried out. The public prosecutor’s investigation is still underway. The results of the autopsy are not yet known.
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